Role Play Assignment for Business Sales & Service

 
Role Play Project
Role-playing can be defined as a game that consists of quantified interactive storytelling and is a powerful technique for developing sales skills. This type of activity requires students to go beyond a text, have a sound understanding of the content, and be able to apply their knowledge in a setting outside the classroom. 
It has been said that successful selling is 90 percent preparation and 10 percent presentation. This is especially true in selling today, with more unique customer needs, more complex products, more competition, longer sales cycles, and multiple decision makers. Salespeople who strategically plan their sales presentations before delivering them to outsell those who fail to develop a sales presentation that is tailored to meet the needs of the prospect. Poorly planned sales presentations are not convincing. A salesperson cannot leave the sales presentation to the inspiration of the moment, any more than a speaker can face an audience without having taken care and time to prepare a speech. In almost every aspect of life, strategic planning is necessary to gain the desired result. 
The effective sales presentation is built with a strategic plan. Every step of the sale, from the approach to servicing the sale, is carefully planned in advance. A well-planned sales presentation is not memorized. It is a logically planned outline that carries the salesperson’s own thoughts from one step to the next. This project will be your outline for strategically planning a sales presentation. This outline is to be used as a guideline, but your paper should be written as a professional, college paper and the required length is 3-5 pages (double-spaced, 12-point font, 1″ margins, excluding references page). 
Below is an outline that can be used as a guideline. Elements may or may not apply depending on the product (real or made-up) you chose.
Title Page 

Name of the product to be sold.
Name of company you are selling for.
Course name and number.
Your name and date

1. Developing a Personal Selling Philosophy 

Describe the marketing setting (e.g., retail, wholesale, manufacturing, or service).
Describe the role of personal selling in this setting.
Describe the typical salesperson’s training to become a consultant/problem-solving
type of salesperson.

2. Developing a Relationship Strategy 

Describe the typical relationship between salesperson and customer in this field.
Describe the appropriate salesperson’s attitude.
Describe the appropriate salesperson’s appearance.
Describe the methods used to strengthen a long-term relationship for repeats and
referrals.
Describe your communication style.

3. Developing a Product Strategy 

Description of company
Description of product/created product solution
Description of technical expertise needed by a salesperson
Develop feature benefits worksheet.
Is this a new and emerging or mature and well-established product?
Will you use a price or value-added product strategy?

4. Developing a Customer Strategy

Describe the typical buying motives of prospect.
Describe the typical prospect as an individual (and as a company representative, if
appropriate).
How are the prospects identified in most cases?

5. Developing a Presentation Strategy 

Preparing for the sales presentation. 

List presentation objectives (primary goal, minimum goal, optimistic goal).
Describe a typical sales cycle (how many calls).
Describe team versus one person, and group versus individual presentation
strategies.
Describe ways to achieve a good social contact.
Describe methods to achieve good business contact and prepare a business
contact worksheet.

Creating the sales presentation 

List questions that will determine the prospect’s needs and prepare a need discovery worksheet.
Match typical customer buying motives with the features and benefits of the product, company, and salesperson.
Create a summary of an appropriate need-satisfaction presentation strategy (informative, persuasive, or reminder).

Conducting the sales demonstration 

List features/benefits you will discuss and demonstrate.
List selling tools you will use and prepare a demonstration worksheet form.

The buyer’s options-provide enough information so that the buyer can easily understand his/her options. 

Your own product/service-provide actual name, include prices, list any strengths and weaknesses
Direct competitor number one – provide actual name, include prices, list many strength and weaknesses
Direct competitor number two – provide actual name, include prices, list many strength and weaknesses
Indirect competitor- provide actual name, include prices, list many strength and weaknesses

Negotiating sales resistance 

Anticipated sales resistance.
How will you overcome sales resistance? Prepare an exhaustive list of all possible objections (minimum of 20). Use 1st person pronouns and verbs (e.g. “I don’t like…”) and they must be very specific to the scenario you have set up (e.g. not just something like, “The value does not exceed the cost.”). Then respond to each of the objectives that you listed. Use 1st person style and identify these to correspond with your list of objections.

6. Closing the sale  

Consider closing clues to be alert to.
List closing methods you plan to use and prepare a closing worksheet form.

7.  Servicing the sale 

Prepare a serving the sale worksheet
List additional items you will suggest to the customer.
How will you assist the customer with delivery and/or installation; with warranty and/or service contract; and in securing credit arrangements?
What type of post-sale courtesy contacts will you make?

Please be sure to follow APA guidelines for citing your sources and references. For APA guidelines please refer to the following Purdue/OWL Online Writing Lab – General APA Guidelines (opens in new window)